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FEATURE-Canadian gambling channel may be a sure bet
By Rajiv Sekhri
TORONTO, June 3 (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Jon Slan bets that his Canadian gambling channel, Jackpot TV, the first of its kind in the country, should reach the Internet within six months and then he plans to make a pitch to cable and satellite companies to get on television by the fall of 2002.
With Canadians betting C$52 billion ($34 billion) last year -- and $560 billion bet south of the border -- the odds are in Slan's favor. He said he is puzzled that, despite huge interest in gambling, others have not attempted to create a such a channel. In fact, nobody in Canada has ever applied for a television license for a channel devoted to gambling.
``I found it surprising,'' said Slan, 54, president of Jackpot TV, who has worked as a producer and is co-founder of cable channels like the Canadian children's channel YTV.
``I thought, frankly, either this is a brilliant idea or a dumb one. I happen to believe that there is a big audience for it,'' said Slan, who formed Jackpot TV with Lorne Weil, chief executive office of Autotote Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of lottery scratch-off tickets. A third major shareholder is Vancouver-based movie and television producer Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.(Toronto:LGF.TO - news)(AMEX:LGF - news)
``I have perceived in the last 15 years that gambling has shed its checkered past and has moved very much into the mainstream as a leisure activity for many people around the world,'' he said.
And for these enthusiasts, Jackpot TV will offer game shows, winning strategies, interactive contests, expert analysis, documentaries on notorious and famous personalties, and shows on the best gaming destinations around the world.
Sprinkled in will be a sliver of sex -- Strip Poker, a show where contestants literally lose their shirts.
CHANGING IMAGE OF GAMBLING
Canada has changed its image in the gambling arena over the past decade, creating Las Vegas-style casinos in tourist hotspots like Niagara Falls and Windsor, Ontario, and in Montreal.
Experts say gambling channels in Britain and France are making money, adding that a similar service in North America seems poised for profit.
"While the penetration level of subscribers (in Europe) isn't particularly high, the revenue per subscriber is really extremely high, said Jacob Hayler, a gambling analyst at Datamonitor, a market analysis and research firm in London.
In France, he said, CanalSatellite, a satellite television provider, had nearly 40,000 subscribers to the gambling channel, garnering about a million French francs a day.
Hayler said television gambling sales will cross $66 million in 2001 in the United Kingdom, soaring to $4.2 billion in 2006.
Slan said he expects the site and the TV channel to garner at least 140,000 subscribers within three years. Market research showed that a third of Canadians surveyed were very keen on such a service, a third were somewhat interested and the remaining were not.
For the Internet site (www.jackpottv.ca) Slan expects subscribers to pay a C$12.50 monthly fee, enabling them to win big prizes.
The hope is that by going on the Internet first Jackpot TV will also gain some clout before it makes its case to cable and satellite companies.
``It will heighten the prospects of a cable service putting us on the menu,'' Slan said. ``They will no doubt ask us for some share of the revenue.''
Entertainment giants in the United States are also eyeing the territory Slan has begun to explore. A pay-to-play games venture, Skillgames, backed by Walt Disney Co.(NYSE :DIS - news), is expected to launch this month.
Family-oriented Disney says its Skillgames are not gambling, however, because they involve a player's own skill or knowledge, not chance like buying a lottery ticket or a bet on someone else's skill in a horse race or sports event.
($1 equals $1.53 Canadian)
By Rajiv Sekhri
TORONTO, June 3 (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Jon Slan bets that his Canadian gambling channel, Jackpot TV, the first of its kind in the country, should reach the Internet within six months and then he plans to make a pitch to cable and satellite companies to get on television by the fall of 2002.
With Canadians betting C$52 billion ($34 billion) last year -- and $560 billion bet south of the border -- the odds are in Slan's favor. He said he is puzzled that, despite huge interest in gambling, others have not attempted to create a such a channel. In fact, nobody in Canada has ever applied for a television license for a channel devoted to gambling.
``I found it surprising,'' said Slan, 54, president of Jackpot TV, who has worked as a producer and is co-founder of cable channels like the Canadian children's channel YTV.
``I thought, frankly, either this is a brilliant idea or a dumb one. I happen to believe that there is a big audience for it,'' said Slan, who formed Jackpot TV with Lorne Weil, chief executive office of Autotote Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of lottery scratch-off tickets. A third major shareholder is Vancouver-based movie and television producer Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.(Toronto:LGF.TO - news)(AMEX:LGF - news)
``I have perceived in the last 15 years that gambling has shed its checkered past and has moved very much into the mainstream as a leisure activity for many people around the world,'' he said.
And for these enthusiasts, Jackpot TV will offer game shows, winning strategies, interactive contests, expert analysis, documentaries on notorious and famous personalties, and shows on the best gaming destinations around the world.
Sprinkled in will be a sliver of sex -- Strip Poker, a show where contestants literally lose their shirts.
CHANGING IMAGE OF GAMBLING
Canada has changed its image in the gambling arena over the past decade, creating Las Vegas-style casinos in tourist hotspots like Niagara Falls and Windsor, Ontario, and in Montreal.
Experts say gambling channels in Britain and France are making money, adding that a similar service in North America seems poised for profit.
"While the penetration level of subscribers (in Europe) isn't particularly high, the revenue per subscriber is really extremely high, said Jacob Hayler, a gambling analyst at Datamonitor, a market analysis and research firm in London.
In France, he said, CanalSatellite, a satellite television provider, had nearly 40,000 subscribers to the gambling channel, garnering about a million French francs a day.
Hayler said television gambling sales will cross $66 million in 2001 in the United Kingdom, soaring to $4.2 billion in 2006.
Slan said he expects the site and the TV channel to garner at least 140,000 subscribers within three years. Market research showed that a third of Canadians surveyed were very keen on such a service, a third were somewhat interested and the remaining were not.
For the Internet site (www.jackpottv.ca) Slan expects subscribers to pay a C$12.50 monthly fee, enabling them to win big prizes.
The hope is that by going on the Internet first Jackpot TV will also gain some clout before it makes its case to cable and satellite companies.
``It will heighten the prospects of a cable service putting us on the menu,'' Slan said. ``They will no doubt ask us for some share of the revenue.''
Entertainment giants in the United States are also eyeing the territory Slan has begun to explore. A pay-to-play games venture, Skillgames, backed by Walt Disney Co.(NYSE :DIS - news), is expected to launch this month.
Family-oriented Disney says its Skillgames are not gambling, however, because they involve a player's own skill or knowledge, not chance like buying a lottery ticket or a bet on someone else's skill in a horse race or sports event.
($1 equals $1.53 Canadian)
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